Healthy Eating Tricks to Steal From the MIND Diet

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By Rose Hayes

The MIND Diet took me by surprise. I chose it for Sharecare’s Editors Try Challenge because the plan was flexible enough to fit my lifestyle. And it was incredibly simple to follow, but I didn’t expect it to actually change the way I think about food. I certainly didn’t expect it to lower my blood pressure, reduce my urge to binge or boost my overall energy. (Note: This was my personal experience; results may vary.)

Here’s what I learned after trying this plan for one month and my best tips to steal.

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It’s not your typical diet

The MIND Diet combines key parts of the DASH Diet, which helps control blood pressure and the Mediterranean Diet, which is associated with longevity and lower rates of chronic illnesses like heart disease.

This eating plan was designed to help reduce Alzheimer’s disease risk. In fact, people who followed it most closely had a 53 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s, according to a large 2015 study.

Its guidelines encourage you to eat 10 specific food groups that help protect against dementia and other chronic illnesses—such as berries, nuts and fatty fish—based on decades of research. It asks you to limit foods that up your disease risk, such salt, sugar and butter.

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The number one reason to try this diet

It’ll change your motivation—it changed mine. The MIND Diet’s not just about staying slim; it’s about improving your health and ensuring your future. Here’s how it impacted the way I think about food:

I could have restricted items like dessert (in moderation) if I really wanted them. That took the edge off and helped me feel more in-control of my choices.

I didn’t really want restricted foods anymore because every time I ate them, it felt like I was taking years off my life.

MIND Diet approved foods are filling and delicious. Plus, every time I replaced a “food to limit” with a “food to love,” I was directly lowering my disease risk.

Thinking about trying it yourself? Here are some of my top tricks to get you started.

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Don’t let peer pressure derail your diet

Peer pressure can quickly undo your diet progress. Fortunately, social gatherings don’t have to set you back on this plan. For one thing, you’re allowed a limited number of unhealthy foods, but you need to:

Measure your servings

Track how much you have weekly

Stay below a certain number of total servings, depending on the food

Often, I made simple swaps instead of indulging, so I could stay on-track without turning down food offers. For example:

On movie night: I had one glass of red wine—my friends had more—and munched on unsalted pistachios instead of popcorn.

At the sushi restaurant: I switched seaweed with cucumber or rice paper in sushi rolls (seaweed can have a high salt content), opted for brown rice instead of white and didn’t use soy sauce.

At the family dinner: I had one fist-sized serving of spaghetti and skipped the meatballs. I enjoyed a large side of escarole and beans instead.

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Keep a visual food journal

A food journal can double your weight loss success, but it’s not always possible to stop and write down what you’re eating.

I wasn’t about to press pause on my meals for the sake of bookkeeping. I started snapping pics with my phone instead. Turns out, this simple step really does boost accountability:

If I couldn’t remember how many servings I’d had of one particular food, I could swipe through my photos to check.

My coworkers were also dieting, so we’d often share recipes and pics—I didn’t want any random fried foods in my photo stream.

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Start your days off strong

This diet got me into the habit of eating filling, heart healthy oatmeal each morning. But I’m not talking about the sugary, artificial packets with ingredients you can’t pronounce. I mean hearty, goopy, 100% real oatmeal.

Sadly, steel cut oats can take a while to cook. Some ways to get around that:

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Sip smart at the coffee shop

It depends. I started asking how many syrup pumps came in my order at the coffee shop—the answer often ranged from six to eight, depending on the drink. Many secretly contained my entire daily serving of sugar.

Always ask the barista about the sugar in your drink order. Ask for one pump or two to start out, but work towards tapering off the liquid sugar all together if possible.

Watch out for drinks that come in bottles too. Many juice, tea and coffee beverages with healthy looking labels are actually loaded with strange ingredients and added sugars.

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Get sassy about seafood

Aim to eat fish at least once a week. Fatty fish like salmon is especially high in omega-3 fatty acids, which may protect against the buildup of beta-amyloid plaques, brain proteins linked to the development of Alzheimer’s.

But fish is pricey, and a fresh catch can be hard to find. Don’t commit to a filet without asking:

When was it shipped?

Was it shipped fresh or frozen?

How long has it been on display?

What does a pound of that fish actually look like? Will you get one filet or three for the price?

If you get home and it smells suspicious, bring it back! Don’t eat questionable seafood, and don’t just assume that cost. Pro tip: Buy whenever you see a sale, even if you don’t plan on eating fish that night. Freeze it so you always have affordable, lean protein on-hand.

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Know what your dinner’s cooked in

Restaurants were helpful when I told them about my diet needs. Typically, they’d offer to modify dishes to lower the salt and sugar content.

But one detail they often overlooked was oil. Restaurants sometimes cook healthy foods like green vegetables and fish filets in butter to add flavor. Always ask what the chef uses and request water or olive oil instead (limit butter and margarine to one daily serving or less).

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If you miss red meat, try these replacements

Red meat’s limited to four servings a week on the MIND Diet. If you’re a meat lover, here are some ways to work around the restriction: